The purpose of this article
is to set forth, in plain language and in terms easily understood, the
basic differences between the Calvinistic and the Arminian system to theology,
and to show what the Bible teaches concerning these subjects. The harmony
that exists between the various doctrines of the Christian faith is such
that error in regard to any one of them produces more or less distortion
in all of the others.

There are in reality only two
types of religious thought. There is the religion of faith, and there is
the religion of works. We believe that what has been known in Church History
as Calvinism is the purest and most consistent embodiment of the religion
of faith, while that which has been known as Arminianism has been diluted
to a dangerous degree by the religion of works and that it is therefore
an inconsistent and unstable form of Christianity. In other words, we believe
that Christianity comes to its fullest and purest expression in Reformed
Faith.

In the early part of the fifth
century these two types of religious thought came into direct conflict
in a remarkably clear contrast as embodied in two fifth-century theologians,
Augustine and Pelagius. Augustine pointed men to God as the source of all
true spiritual wisdom and strength, while Pelagius threw men back on themselves
and said that they were able in their own strength to do all that God commanded,
otherwise God would not command it. We believe that Arminianism represents
a compromise between these two systems, but that while in its more evangelical
form, as in early Wesleyanism, it approaches the religion of faith, it
nevertheless does contain serious elements of error.

We are living in a day in which
practically all of the historic churches are being attacked from within
by unbelief. Many of them have already succumbed. And almost invariably
the line of descent has been from Calvinism to Arminianism, from Arminianism
to Liberalism, and then to Unitarianism. And the history of Liberalism
and Unitarianism shows that they deteriorate into a social gospel that
is too weak to sustain itself. We are convinced that the future of Christianity
is bound up with that system of theology historically called "Calvinism."
Where the God centered principles of Calvinism have been abandoned, there
has been a strong tendency downward into the depths of man centered naturalism
or secularism. Some have declared - rightly, we believe - that there is
no consistent stopping place between Calvinism and atheism. The basic principle
of Calvinism is the sovereignty of God. This represents the purpose of
the Triune God as absolute and unconditional, independent of the whole
finite creation, and originating solely in the eternal counsel of His will.
He appoints the course of nature and directs the course of history down
to the minutest details. His decrees therefore are eternal, unchangeable,
holy, wise and sovereign. They are represented in the Bible as being the
basis of the divine foreknowledge of all future events, and not conditioned
by that foreknowledge or by anything originating in the events themselves.

Every thinking person readily
sees that some sovereignty rules his life. He was not asked whether or
not he would have existence, when or what or where he would be born, whether
in the twentieth century or before the Flood, whether male or female, whether
white or black, whether in the United States, or China, or Africa. All
of those things were sovereignly decided for him before he had any existence.
It has been recognized by Christians in all ages that God is the Creator
and Ruler of the world, and that as such He is the ultimate source of all
power that is found in the world. Hence nothing can come to pass apart
from His sovereign will. Otherwise He would not be truly GOD. And when
we dwell on this truth we find that it involves considerations which establish
the Calvinistic and disprove the Arminian position.

By virtue of the fact that God
has created everything that exists, He is the absolute Owner and final
Disposer of all that He has made. He exerts not merely a general influence,
but actually rules in the affairs of men (Acts 4:24-28). Even the nations
are as the small dust of the balance when compared with His greatness (Isaiah
40:12-17). Amid all the apparent defeats and inconsistencies of our human
lives, God is actually controlling all things in undisturbed majesty. Even
the sinful actions of men can occur only by His permission and with the
strength that he gives the creature. And since He permits not unwillingly
but willingly, then all that comes to pass - including even the sinful
actions and ultimate destiny of men - must be, in some sense, in accordance
with what He has eternally purposed and decreed. Just in proportion as
this is denied, God is excluded from the government of the world, and we
have only a finite God. Naturally, some problems arise which in our present
state of knowledge we are not able fully to explain. But that is not a
sufficient reason for rejecting what the Scriptures and the plain dictates
of reason affirm to be true.

And shall we not believe that
God can convert a sinner when He pleases? Cannot the Almighty, the omnipotent
Ruler of heaven and earth, change the character of the creatures He has
made? He changed the water into wine at Cana and converted Saul on the
road to Damascus. The leper said, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make
me clean" (Matthew 8:2). And at a word his leprosy was cleansed. Let us
not believe, as do the Arminians, that God cannot control the human will,
or that He cannot regenerate a soul when He pleases. He is as able to cleanse
the soul as the body. If He chose He could raise up such a flood of Christian
ministers, missionaries and workers of various kinds, and could so work
through His Holy Spirit, that the entire world would be converted in a
very short time. If He had purposed to save all men He could have sent
hosts of angels to instruct them and to do supernatural works on the earth.
He could have worked marvelously in the heart of every person so that no
one would have been lost.

Since evil exists only by His
permission, He could, if He chose, blot it out of existence. His power
in this respect was shown, for instance, in the work of the destroying
angel who in one night slew all of the firstborn of the Egyptians (Exodus
12:29), and in another night slew 185,000 of the Assyrian army (II Kings
19:35). It was shown when the earth opened and swallowed Korah and his
rebellious allies (Numbers 16.31-35). King Herod was smitten and died a
horrible death (Acts 12:23). In Daniel 4:34-35 we read that the Most High
God's "dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from
generation to generation. And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted
as nothing, and He does according to His will in the host of heaven, and
among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand, or say
to Him, 'What hast Thou Done?'"

All of this brings out the basic
principle of the Reformed Faith - the sovereignty of God. God created this
world in which we find ourselves, He owns it, and He is running it according
to His own sovereign good pleasure. God has lost none of His power, and
it is highly dishonoring to Him to suppose that He is struggling along
with the human race, doing the best He can to persuade men to do right,
but unable to accomplish His eternal, unchangeable, holy, wise, and sovereign
purpose.

Any system which teaches that
the serious intentions of God can in some cases be defeated, and that man,
who is not only a creature but a sinful creature, can exercise veto power
over the plans of Almighty God, is in striking contrast to the biblical
idea of his immeasurable exaltation by which He is removed from all weaknesses
of humanity. That the plans of men are not always executed is due to a
lack of power, or a lack of wisdom, or both. But since God is unlimited
in these and in all other resources, no unforeseen emergencies can arise.
To Him the causes for change have no existence. To assume that His plan
fails and that he strives to no effect is to reduce Him to the level of
His creatures and make Him no God at all.

2. Man's Totally Helpless Condition

As we read the works of various
Arminian writers, it seems that their first and perhaps most serious error
is that they do not give sufficient importance to the sinful rebellion
and spiritual separation of the human race from God that occurred in the
fall of Adam. Some neglect it altogether, while for others it seems to
be a far away event that has little influence in the lives of people today.
But unless we insist on the reality of that spiritual separation from God,
and the totally disastrous effect that it had on the entire human race,
we shall never be able properly to appreciate our real condition or our
desperate need of a Redeemer. Perhaps it will help us to realize more clearly
what fallen man's condition really is if we compare it with that of the
fallen angels. Angels were created before man, and each angel was placed
on test as an individual, personal, moral being. This apparently was a
pure test of obedience, as was that of Adam. Some of the angels stood their
test, for reasons only fully known to God, and, as a result, were then
confirmed in a state of perfect angelic holiness, and are now the elect
angels in heaven (I Timothy 5:21). But others fell and are now the demons
that we read of in the Scriptures, the devil apparently being the one of
highest rank among those who fell.

In Jude we read of "angels who
did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has
kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day"
(v.6). And in II Peter we read that "For if God did not spare angels when
they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness,
reserved for judgment" (2:4). The devil and the demons are totally alienated
from God, totally given offer to sin, and without any hope of redemption.
Their fate is described by Christ as that of being cast into "the eternal
fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41).
There is no redemption for fallen angles. The writer of the Epistle to
the Hebrews says, "For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He
gives help to the descendant of Abraham" (2:16). Their fate is fixed and
certain. For men and for angels endless punishment is the penalty for endless
sinning against God. Some would try to make God appear unjust as though
He inflicts endless punishment for sins committed only in this life. But
lost men and lost angels or demons are endlessly in rebellion against God,
and they endlessly receive punishment for that rebellion. But when God
created man a moral creature, He proceeded on a different plan than He
did with the angelic order. Instead of creating all men at one time and
placing them on test individually, He created one man, with a physical
body, from whom the entire human race would descend, and who, because of
his union with all of those who would come after him, could be appointed
as the legal or federal head and representative of the entire human race.
If he stood the test, he and all of his descendants, his children, would
be confirmed in holiness and established in a state of perpetual creaturely
bliss as were the holy angels. But if he fell, as did the other angels,
he and all his posterity would be subject to eternal punishment. It was
as if God said, "This time, if sin is to enter, let it enter by one man,
so that redemption also can be provided by one man."

Therefore Adam in his representative
capacity was placed on a test of pure human obedience. The penalty of disobedience
was clearly set before him: "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying,
'From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; but from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat
from it you shall surely die'" (Genesis 2:16-17).

Hence, the clearly declared
penalty for sin was death - exactly the same penalty that had been inflicted
on the angels who fell. As with angels, it was purely a test of whether
or not man would be an obedient and appreciative subject in the kingdom
of heaven. It was a perfectly fair, simple test, clearly set forth, very
much in Adam's favor, for which he would have no excuse if he disobeyed.
But, tragedy of tragedies, Adam fell. And the entire human race fell representatively
in him. The consequences of his sin are all comprehended under the term
death, in its widest sense. It was primarily spiritual death, or separation
from God, that had been threatened. Adam did not die physically until 930
years after he fell. But he was spiritually estranged from God and died
spiritually the very instant that he sinned. And from that instant his
life became an unceasing march to the grave. Man in this life has not gone
as far in the ways of sin as have the devil and the demons, for he still
receives many blessings through common grace, such as health, wealth, family
and friends, the beauties of nature, and he still is surrounded with many
restraining influences. But he is on his way. And if not checked, man would
eventually become as totally evil as are the demons. In his fallen state
he fears God, tries to flee from Him, and literally hates Him, as do the
demons. If left to himself he would remain forever in that condition, because
as it is written, "There is none righteous, not even one; There is none
who understands, There is none who seeks for God" (Romans 3:10-11). Nothing,
absolutely nothing, but a mighty supernatural act on the part of God can
rescue him from that condition. Hence if he is to be rescued, God must
take the initiative, must pay the penalty for him, must cleanse him from
his guilt, and so reinstate him in holiness and righteousness. And that
is precisely what God does. He sovereignly picks a man up out of the kingdom
of Satan, and places him in the kingdom of heaven. Those are the elect
that are referred to some 25 times in the Scriptures: Matthew 24:22: "For
the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short" (at the destruction
of Jerusalem). I Thessalonians 1:4: "knowing, brethren beloved of God,
His choice of you." Romans 11:7: "those who were chosen obtained it, and
the rest were hardened." Romans 8:33: "Who will bring a charge against
God's elect?"; and many more.

The Bible tells us that God
has rescued a multitude of the human race from the penalty of their sins.
In order to perform that work, Christ, the second Person of the Trinity,
took upon Himself human nature through the miracle of the virgin birth,
and was born into the human race as any normal child is born. God thus
became incarnate, became one of us. Jesus then lived a perfectly sinless
life among men as the representative of His people, placed Himself before
His own law, and suffered in His own Person the penalty that God had prescribed
for sin. In His sinless life He kept perfectly the law of God that Adam
had broken, and so earned perfect righteousness for His people and thereby
earned for them the right to enter heaven. What He suffered, as a Person
of infinite value and dignity, was a just equivalent of what His people
would have suffered in an eternity in hell. In this manner He freed His
people from the law of sin and death. And as the fruits of that redemptive
work are applied to those who have been given to the Son by the Father,
they are said to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit, that is, to be made
alive spiritually, to be born again. Paul expresses this broad truth when
in the Epistle to the Romans he writes:

Therefore, just as through on
man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread
to all men, because all sinned - for until the Law sin was in the world;
but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned
from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness
of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free
gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the
one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace
of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. And the gift is not like
that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment
arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other
hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.
For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one,
much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one
transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one
act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For
as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even
so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. And
the Law came in that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased,
grace abounded all the more, that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace
might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord (Romans 5:12-19).

Unless one sees that contrast
between the first and the second Adam, he will never understand the Christian
system. And writing to the saints that were at Ephesus, Paul said:

And you were dead in your trespasses
and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that
is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly
lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging in the desires of the flesh
and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved
us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together
with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him,
and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order
that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace
in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as
a result of works, that no one should boast. For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand,
that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:1-10).

In Christian theology there
are three separate and distinct acts of imputation. In the first place
Adam's sin is imputed to all of us, his children, that is, judicially set
to our account so that we are held responsible for it and suffer the consequences
of it. This is commonly known as the doctrine of Original Sin. In the second
place, and in precisely the same manner, our sin is imputed to Christ so
that He suffers the consequences of it. And in the third place, Christ's
righteousness is imputed to us and secures for us entrance into heaven.
We are, of course, no more personally guilty of Adam's sin than Christ
is personally guilty of our sin, or than we are personally meritorious
because of His righteousness. In each case it is a judicial transaction.
We receive salvation from Christ in precisely the same way that we receive
condemnation and ruin from Adam. In each case the result follows because
of the close official union which exists between the persons involved.
To reject any one of these three steps is to reject an essential part of
the Christian system.

Thus we see the strict parallel
between Adam and Christ in the matter of salvation. In the above passages
Paul piles one phrase upon another stressing the fact that we were not
merely sick, or spiritually disinclined, but spiritually dead. Christ Himself
said, "unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John
3:3). And again He said, "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It
is because you cannot hear My word" (John 8:43). The unregenerate man cannot
see the kingdom of God, nor hear in any spiritually discerning way the
words spoken concerning it, much less can he get into it. Had we been left
to ourselves we, like the fallen angels, would never have turned to God.

A spiritually dead person can
no more give himself spiritual life that a physically dead person can give
himself physical live. That requires a supernatural act on the part of
God. We get into the family of God in precisely the same way that we get
into our human family, by being born into it. By that supernatural act
God Himself, through His Holy Spirit, sovereignly takes us out of the kingdom
of Satan and places us in His spiritual kingdom by a spiritual rebirth.

And having once been born onto
the kingdom of God, we can never become unborn. Since it took a supernatural
act to bring us into a state of spiritual life, it would take another such
act to take us out of that state. Hence the absolute certainty that those
who have been regenerated and who therefore have become truly Christian
will never lose their salvation, but will providentially be kept by the
power of God through all the trials and difficulties of this life and will
be brought into the heavenly kingdom. "He who hears my word, and believes
Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but
has passed out of death into life" (John 5:24). "Therefore if any man is
in Christ, he is a new creature" (II Corinthians 5:17). "My sheep hear
My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life
to them, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out
of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and
no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand" (John 10:27-29).
This is known as the doctrine of eternal security or the perseverance of
the saints.

This gift of eternal live is
not conferred upon all men, but only upon those whom God chooses. This
does not mean that any who want to be saved are excluded, for the invitation
is "And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the
water of life without cost" (Revelation 22:17). The fact is that a spiritually
dead person cannot will to come. "No one can come to Me, unless the Father
who sent Me draws [literally, drags] him" (John 6:44). Only those who are
made spiritually alive by the Holy Spirit ever have that will or that desire.
These in Scripture are called the elect. But in contrast with these, there
is another group that we may call the non-elect. And concerning them Professor
Floyd Hamilton has very appropriately written: "All that God does is to
let them alone and allow them to go their own way without interference.
It is their nature to be evil, and God simply has foreordained to leave
that nature unchanged. The picture often painted by opponents of Calvinism,
of a cruel God refusing to save all who want to be saved, is a gross caricature.
God saves all who want to be saved, but no one whose nature has not been
changed wants to be saved."

3. Christ's Atonement

We are not told why God does
not save all mankind when all were equally undeserving, and when the sacrifice
on Calvary was that of a Person of infinite value, amply sufficient to
save all men had God so desired it. But the Scriptures do tell us that
no all will be saved. However, we can say that the atonement, which was
worked out at an enormous cost to God Himself, is His own property, and
that He is at liberty to make whatever use of it He chooses. No man has
any claim to any part of it. We are told repeatedly that salvation is by
grace. And grace is favor shown to the undeserving, even to the ill-deserving.
If any part of man's salvation were due to his own good works, then indeed
there would be a difference in me n, and those who had responded to the
gracious offer could justly point the finger of scorn at the lost and say,
"You had the same chance that I had. I accepted, but you refused. Therefore
you have no excuse." But no. God has so arranged this system that those
who are saved can only be eternally grateful that God has saved them.

It is not for us to ask why
God does as He does, for the Scripture declares:

On the contrary, who are you,
O man, who answeres back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder,
"Why did you make me like this," will it? Or does not the potter have a
right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable
use, and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate
His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels
of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so in order that He might
make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared
beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews
only, but also from among Gentiles (Romans 9:20-24).

Only the Calvinist seems to
take the fall of man seriously. A proper evaluation of the fall and of
man's present hopeless condition is the missing element in so much of today's
thinking, teaching and preaching. Arminianism seriously errs in assuming
that man has sufficient ability to turn to God if only he will. The Calvinist
insists that man is not merely sick or indisposed or just needs the right
incentive, but that he is spiritually dead, and that the atonement of Christ
does not merely make salvation an abstract possibility such that all men
can turn to God if they will. The Calvinist holds that the atonement was
an objective work accomplished in history which removed all legal barriers
against those to whom it was to be applied, and that it would be followed
by the work of the Holy Spirit subjectively applying the merits of that
atonement to the hearts of those for whom it was divinely intended.

We call attention again to one
of the most important verses in Scripture concerning the matter of salvation:
"No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent me draws him" (John
6:44). Another like it is; "All that the Father gives Me shall come to
Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out" (John 6:37).
And to the Christians in Corinth, Paul wrote: "But a natural man does not
accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him,
and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised."
(I Corinthians 2:14). And how does God cause the elect to exercise faith?
The answer is: In regeneration the Holy Spirit subdues man's heart to Himself,
and imparts to man a new nature which loves righteousness and hates sin.
He does not force man against his will, but makes him lovingly and spontaneously
obedient to His will. When the Lord Jesus appeared to the hardened persecutor
Saul as he was on the way to Damascus, he immediately became obedient to
the Lord's will. "Thy people will volunteer freely in the day of Thy power,"
said the Psalmist (110:3). Thus God gives His people the will to come.
That act on God's part, in the sub-conscious nature of the person, is known
as regeneration, or as a new birth, or being born again. When a man is
thus given a new nature, he reacts according to that nature, as do all
of God's creatures. He then exercises faith and does good works characteristic
of repentance as naturally as the grape vine produces grapes. Whereas sin
was his natural element, now holiness becomes his natural element - not
all at once, for he still has remnants of the old nature clinging to him,
and as long as he remains in this world he still is in a sinful environment.
But as his new nature is free to express itself he grows in righteousness;
he enjoys reading God's Word, praying, and having fellowship with other
Christians. We therefore have to choose between an atonement of high efficiency
which is perfectly accomplished, and an atonement of wide extension which
is imperfectly accomplished. We cannot have both. If we had both we would
have universal salvation. But the Arminian extends the atonement so widely
that so far as its actual effect is concerned, it has practically no value
other than as an example of unselfish service. Dr. B. B. Warfield used
a very simple illustration to present this truth. He said that the atonement
is like pie dough - the wider you roll it the thinner it becomes. And the
Arminian, in making it apply to all men, reduces its effectiveness to such
an extent that it becomes practically no atonement at all.

Furthermore, for God to have
laid the sins of all men on Christ would mean that as regards the lost
He would be punishing their sins twice, once in Christ, and then again
in them. Certainly that would be unjust. If Christ paid their debt, they
are free, and the Holy Spirit would invariably bring them to faith and
repentance. If the atonement was truly unlimited, it would mean that Christ
died for multitudes whose fate already had been determined, who already
were in hell at the time He suffered. If the atonement merely nullified
the sentence that was against man so as to give him a new chance if he
would exercise faith and obedience, it would mean that God was placing
him on test again as was his ancestor Adam. But that kind of a test was
tried and had its outcome long ago, even in a far more favorable environment.
Carried to its logical conclusion, the theory of unlimited atonement leads
to absurdity.

We should remember that Christ's
suffering in His human nature, as He hung on the cross those six hours,
was not primarily physical, but mental and spiritual. When He cried out,
"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me," He was literally suffering
the pangs of hell. For that is essentially what hell is, separation from
God, separation from everything that is good and desirable. Such suffering
is beyond our comprehension. But since He suffered as a divine-human person,
His suffering was a just equivalent for all that His people would have
suffered in an eternity in hell.

As a matter of fact, the redeemed
man gains more through redemption in Christ than he lost through the fall
of Adam. For in the incarnation God literally came into the human race
and took human nature upon Himself, which nature Christ in His glorified
body will retain forever, and evidently He will be the only visible God
that we will see in heaven. Peter tells us that we "might become partakers
of the divine nature" (II Peter 1:4); and Paul says that we are "heirs
of God, and fellow heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17). Think of that! Partakers
of the divine nature, and joint-heirs with Christ! What greater blessing
could God possibly confer upon us? As such we are superior to the angels,
for they are designated in Scripture only as God's messengers, His servants.

Ultimately the Arminian is faced
with precisely the same problem as is the Calvinist - that broader problem
as to why a God of infinite holiness and power permits sin at all. In our
present state of knowledge we can give only a partial answer. But the Calvinist
faces up to that problem, acknowledges the Scriptural doctrine that all
men had their fair and favorable chance in Adam, that God now graciously
saves some of the fallen race while leaving others to go their own chosen
sinful way and manifests His justice in their punishment. But having admitted
foreknowledge, the Arminianism has no explanation as to why God purposefully
and deliberately creates those who He knows will be lost and who will spend
eternity in hell. However, as regards the problem of evil, we can say that
God created this world as a theater in which He would display His glory,
His marvelous attributes for all of His creatures to see and admire - His
being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Here we are
concerned primarily with His justice. God's justice demands that goodness
must be rewarded and that sin must be punished. And it is just as necessary
that sin be punished as it is that goodness be rewarded. God would be unjust
if He failed to do either. Therefore He created men and angels not as robots
who would automatically produce good works as a machine produces bolts
or tin cans but who would deserve no rewards, but as free moral agents,
in His own image, capable, in Adam before the fall, of choosing between
good and evil. He manifests His justice toward those whom He has purposed
in grace to save by rewarding them for the good works that are found in
Christ their Saviour and credited to them, confirming them in holiness,
and admitting them into heaven. And He manifests His justice toward those
whom He has purposed to by-pass for their willing continuance in sin.

Likewise, if sin had been excluded,
there could have been no adequate revelation God's most glorious attributes,
grace, mercy, love and holiness, as is displayed in His redemption of sinners.
Let us remember that the angels in heaven earned salvation through a covenant
of works, by keeping God's law. As in the Case of Adam, they had been promised
certain rewards if they obeyed. They did obey, and were confirmed in holiness.
They have not experienced salvation by grace. There is an old hymn which
says, "When I sing redemption's story, the angels will fold their wings
and listen." And so it will be in the ultimate contrast between men and
angels.

Hence the explanation of sin
is that God permits it, but controls and overrules it for Hi s own glory.
If sin had been excluded from the creation those glorious attributes could
never have been adequately displayed before His intelligent universe of
men and angels, but for the most part would have remained forever hidden
in the depths of the divine nature.

4. God's Foreknowledge

The evangelical Arminian acknowledges
that God has foreknowledge, and that He therefore is able to predict future
events. But if God foreknows any future event, then that event is as fixed
and certain as if foreordained. For foreknowledge implies certainty, and
certainly implies foreordination. The evangelical Arminian does not deny
that there is such a thing as election to salvation, for he cannot get
rid of the words "elect" and "election," which occur some twenty-five times
in the New Testament. But he tries to destroy the force of these words
by saying that election is based on foreknowledge, that God looks down
the broad avenue of the future and sees those who will respond to His gracious
offer, and so elects them.

But in acknowledging foreknowledge,
the Arminian makes a fatal concession. Figuratively speaking, he cuts his
own throat, for the simple reason that as God foresees those who will be
saved, He also sees those who will be lost! Why, then, does He create those
who will be lost? Certainly, He is not under any obligation to create them.
There is no power outside Himself forcing Him to do so. If He wants all
men to be saved and is earnestly trying to save all men, He could at least
refrain from creating those who, if created, certainly will be lost.

The Arminian cannot consistently
hold to the foreknowledge of God and yet deny the doctrines of election
and predestination. The question persists: Why does God create those who
He knows will go to hell? It would be mere foolishness for Him to wish
to save or try to save those who He knows will be lost. That would be for
Him to work at cross purposes with Himself. Even a man has better sense
than to try to do what he knows he will not do or cannot do. The Arminian
has no alternative but to deny the foreknowledge of God - and then he has
only a limited, ignorant, finite God who in reality is not God at all in
the true sense of that word. If election is based on foreknowledge, that
makes it so meaningless that it becomes more confusing than enlightening.
For even as regards the elect, what sense is there for God to elect those
who He knows are going to elect themselves? That would be just plain nonsense.

5. The Universalistic Passages

Probably the most plausible
defense for Arminianism is found in the universalistic passages in Scripture.
Three of the most quoted are: II Peter 3:9, "Not wishing [or, KJV, not
willing] that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance";
I Timothy 2:4, [God our Saviour] "who would have all men to be saved, and
come to the knowledge of the truth"; and I Timothy 2:5,6, "...Christ Jesus,
who gave himself a ransom for all."

In regard to these verses we
must keep in mind that, as we have said earlier, God is the absolute sovereign
Ruler of heaven and earth, and we are never to think of Him as wishing
or striving to do what He knows He will not do. For Him to do otherwise
would be for Him to act foolishly. Since Scripture tells us that some men
are going to be lost, II Peter 3:9 cannot mean that God is earnestly wishing
or striving to save all individual men. For if it were His will that every
individual of mankind should be saved, then not one soul could be lost.
"For who resists His will?" (Romans 9:19).

These verses simply teach that
God is benevolent, and that He does not delight in the sufferings of His
creatures any more than a human father delights in the punishment that
he sometimes must inflict upon his son. The word "will" is used in different
senses in Scripture as in our everyday conversation. It is sometimes used
in the sense of "desire" or "purpose." A righteous judge does not will
(desire) that anyone should be hanged or sentenced to prison, yet he wills
(pronounces sentence) that the guilty person shall be punished. In the
same sense and for sufficient reasons a man may will to have a limb removed,
or an eye taken out, even though he certainly does not desire it.

Arminians insist that in II
Peter 3:9 the words "any" and "all" refer to all mankind without exception.
But it is important first of all to see to whom those words were addressed.
In the first verse of chapter one, we find that the epistle is addressed
not to mankind at large, but to Christians: "...to those who have received
a faith of the same kind as ours." And in a preceding verse (3:1), Peter
had addressed those to whom he was writing as "beloved." And when we look
at the verse as a whole, and not merely at the last half, we find that
it is not primarily a salvation verse at all, but a second coming verse!
It begins by saying that "The Lord is not slow about HIs promise" [singular].
What promise? Verse 4 tells us: "the promise of his coming." The reference
is to His second coming, when He will come for judgment, and the wicked
will perish in the lake of fire. The verse has reference to a limited group.
It says that the Lord is "patient toward you," His elect, many of whom
had not yet been regenerated, and who therefore had not yet come to repentance.
Hence we may quite properly read verse 9 as follows: "The Lord is not slow
about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not
wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."

In regard to I Timothy 2:4,6
"who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth
... who gave Himself as a ransom for all," is used in various senses. Oftentimes
it means, not all men without exception, but all men without distinction
- Jews and Gentiles, bond and free, men and women, rich and poor. And in
I Timothy 2:4-6 it clearly is used in that sense. Through many centuries
the Jews had been, with few exceptions, the exclusive recipients of God's
saving grace. They had become the most intensely nationalistic and intolerant
people in the world. Instead of recognizing their position as that of God's
representatives to all the people of the world, they had taken those blessings
to themselves. Even the early Christians for a time were inclined to appropriate
the mission of the Messiah only to themselves. The salvation of the Gentiles
was a mystery that had not been known in other ages (Ephesians 4:6; Colossians
1:27). So rigid was the pharisaic exclusivism that the Gentiles were called
unclean, common, sinners of the Gentiles, even dogs; and it was not lawful
for a Jew to keep company with or have any deals with a Gentile (John 4:9,
Acts 10:28, 11:3). After an orthodox Jew had been out in the marketplace
where he had come in contact with Gentiles he was regarded as unclean (Mark
7:4). After Peter had preached to the Roman Centurian Cornelius and the
others who were gathered at his house, he was severely taken to task by
the Church in Jerusalem, and we can almost hear the gasp of wonder when,
after Peter told them what had happened, they said, "Well, then, God has
granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life" (Acts 11:18),
that is, not to every individual in the world, but to Jews and Gentiles
alike. Used in this sense the word "all" has no reference to individuals,
but simply to mankind in general.

When it was said of John the
Baptist that "And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all
the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan
River, confessing their sins" (Mark 1:5), we know that not every individual
did so respond. We read that after Peter and John had healed the lame man
at the door of the temple, "all glorifying God for what had happened" (Acts
4:21). Jesus told his disciples that they would be "and you will be hated
by all on account of My name" (Luke 21:17). And when Jesus said, "And I,
if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself" (John 12:32),
He certainly did not mean that every individual of mankind would be so
drawn. What He did mean was that Jews and Gentiles, men of all nations
and races, would be drawn to Him. And that is what we see is actually happening.
In I Corinthians 15:22 we read, "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ
all shall be made alive." This verse is often quoted by Arminians to prove
unlimited or universal atonement. This verse is from Paul's famous resurrection
chapter, and the context makes it clear that he is not talking about life
in this age, whether physical or spiritual, but about the resurrection
life. Christ is the first to enter the resurrection life, then, when He
comes, His people also enter into their resurrection life. And what Paul
says is that at that time a glorious resurrection life will become a reality,
not for all mankind, but for all those who are in Christ. And this point
is illustrated by the well known fact that the race fell in Adam, who acted
as its federal head and representative. What Paul says in effect this:
"For as all born in Adam die, so also all born again in Christ shall be
made alive." Verse 22, therefore, refers not to something past, nor to
something present, but to something future; and it has no special bearing
at all on the Calvinistic-Arminian controversy.

Two other verses that also are
often quoted in defense of Arminianism are "Behold, I stand at the door;
if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and
will dine with him, and he with Me" (Revelation 3:20); and "...let the
one who wishes take the water of life without cost" (Revelation 22:17).
This general invitation is extended to all men. It may be, and often is,
the means that the Holy Spirit uses to arouse in certain individuals the
desire for salvation as He puts forth His supernatural power to regenerate
them. But these verses, taken by themselves, fail to take into consideration
the truth that already has been stressed in this article, that fallen man
is spiritually dead, and that as such he is as totally unable to respond
to the invitation as are the fallen angels or demons. Fallen man is as
dead spiritually as Lazarus was dead physically until Jesus cried with
a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth," and the Pharisee Nicodemus, "unless
one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). And again,
He said to the Pharisees, "why do you not understand what I am saying?
It is because you cannot hear My word" (John 8:43). Apart from that divine
assistance no one can hear the invitation or put forth the will to come
to Christ.

The declaration that Christ
died for "all" is made clearer by the song that the redeemed sing before
the throne of the Lamb: "Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with
Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation" (Revelation
5:9). Oftentimes the word "all" must be understood to mean all the elect,
all His Church, all those whom the Father has given to the Son, as when
Christ says, "All that the Father gives Me shall come to me" (John 6:37),
but not all men universally and every man individually. The redeemed host
will be make up of men from all classes and conditions of life, of princes
and peasants, of rich and poor, bond and free, male and female, Jews and
Gentiles, men of all nations and races. That is the true universalism of
Scripture.

6. The Two systems Contrasted

We have said that Christianity
comes to its fullest expression in the Reformed Faith. The great advantage
of the Reformed Faith is that in the framework of the Five Points of Calvinism
it sets forth clearly what the Bible teaches concerning the way of salvation.
Only when these truths are seen as a unit an in relation to each other
can one really understand or appreciate the Christian system in all of
its strength and beauty.

The reason that so many Christians
have only a weak faith, and that so many churches present only a rather
superficial form of Christianity, is that they never really see the system
in its logical consistency. It is not enough for the professing Christian
to know that God loves him and that his sins have been forgiven. He should
know how and why his redemption has been accomplished and how it has been
made effective. And that is set forth systematically in the Five Points
of Calvinism.

Historically, the Five Points
of Calvinism have been held by the Presbyterian and Reformed churches and
by many Baptists, while the substance of the Five Points of Arminianism
has been held by the Methodist and Lutheran churches and also by many Baptists.

The Five Points of Calvinism
may be more easily remembered if they are associated with the word T-U-L-I-P:
T - Total Inability U - Unconditional Election L - Limited Atonement I
-Irresistible (Efficacious) Grace P - Perseverance of the Saints The following
material, taken from Romans: an Interpretive Outline, by David N. Steele
and Curtis Thomas, Baptist ministers in Little Rock, Arkansas, contrasts
the Five Points of Calvinism with the Five Points of Arminianism in the
clearest and most concise form that we have found anywhere. It is also
included as an Appendix in The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, by
the present writer. Each of these books is published by the Presbyterian
and Reformed Publishing Co., Phillipsburg, N.J.

THE "FIVE POINTS" OF ARMINIANISM

1. Free-Will: or Human Ability
Although human nature was seriously affected by the fall, man has not been
left in a state of total spiritual helplessness. God graciously enables
every sinner to repent and believe, but He does not interfere with man's
freedom. Each sinner posses a free will, and his eternal destiny depends
on how he uses it. Man's freedom consists of his ability to choose good
over evil in spiritual matters; his will is not enslaved to his sinful
nature. The sinner has the power to either cooperate with God's Spirit
and be regenerated or resist God's grace and perish. The lost sinner needs
the Spirit's assistance, but he does not have to be regenerated by the
Spirit before he can believe, for faith is man's act and precedes the new
birth. Faith is the sinner's gift to God; it is man's contribution to salvation.

2. Conditional Election: God's
choice of certain individuals unto salvation before the foundation of the
world was based upon His foreseeing that they would respond to His call.
He selected only those whom He knew would of themselves freely believe
the gospel. Election therefore was determined by or conditioned upon what
man would do. The faith which God foresaw and upon which He based His choice
was not given to the sinner by God (it was not created by the regenerating
power of the Holy Spirit) but resulted solely from man's will. It was left
entirely up to man as to who would believe and therefore as to who would
be elected unto salvation. God chose those whom He knew would, of their
own free will, choose Christ. Thus the sinner's choice of Christ, not God's
choice of the sinner, is the ultimate cause of salvation.

3. Universal Redemption: or
General Atonement Christ's redeeming work made it possible for everyone
to be saved but did not actually secure the salvation of anyone. Although
Christ died for all men and for every man, only those who believe on Him
are saved. His death enabled God to pardon sinners on the condition that
they believe, but it did not actually put away anyone's sins. Christ's
redemption becomes effective only if man chooses to accept it.

4. The Holy Spirit Can Be Effectually
Resisted: The Spirit calls inwardly all those who are called outwardly
by the gospel invitation; He does all that He can to bring every sinner
to salvation. But inasmuch as man is free, he can successfully resist the
Spirit's call. The Spirit cannot regenerate the sinner until he believes;
faith (which is man's contribution) proceeds and makes possible the new
birth. Thus, man's free will limits the Spirit in the application of Christ's
saving work. The Holy Spirit can only draw to Christ those who allow Him
to have His way with them. Until the sinner responds, the Spirit can not
give life. God's grace, therefore, is not invincible; it can be, and often
is, resisted and thwarted by man.

5. Falling from Grace: Those
who believe and are truly saved can lose their salvation by failing to
keep up their faith, etc. All Arminians have not been agreed on this point;
some have held that believers are eternally secure in Christ - that once
a sinner is regenerated, he can never be lost. According to Arminianism:
Salvation is accomplished through the combined efforts of God (who takes
the initiative) and man (who must respond) - man's response being the determining
factor. God has provided salvation for everyone, but His provision becomes
effective only for those who, of their own free will, "choose" to cooperate
with Him and accept His offer of grace. At the crucial point, man's will
plays a decisive role; thus man, not God, determines who will be recipients
of the gift of salvation.

THE "FIVE POINTS" OF CALVINISM

1. Total Inability or Total
Depravity: Because of the fall, man is unable of himself to savingly believe
the gospel. The sinner is dead, blind, and deaf to the things of God; his
heart is deceitful and desperately corrupt. His will is not free, it is
in bondage to his evil nature, therefore, he will not - indeed he cannot
- choose good over evil in the spiritual realm. Consequently, it takes
much more than the Spirit's assistance to bring a sinner to Christ - it
takes regeneration by which the Spirit makes the sinner alive and gives
him a new nature. Faith is not something man contributes to salvation but
is itself a port of God's gift of salvation - it is God's gift to the sinner,
not the sinner's gift to God.

2. Unconditional Election: God's
choice of certain individuals unto salvation before the foundation of the
world rested solely in His own sovereign will. His choice of particular
sinners was not based on any foreseen response of obedience on their part,
such as faith, repentance, etc. On the contrary, God gives faith and repentance
to each individual whom He selected. These acts are the result, not the
cause of God's choice. Election therefore was not determined by or conditioned
upon any virtuous quality or act foreseen in man. Those whom God sovereignly
elected He brings through the power of the Spirit to a willing acceptance
of Christ. Thus God's choice of the sinner, not the sinner's choice of
Christ, is the ultimate cause of salvation.

3. Particular Redemption or
Limited Atonement: Christ's redeeming work was intended to save the elect
only and actually secured salvation for them. His death was substitutionary
endurance of the penalty of sin in the place of certain specified sinners.
In addition to putting away the sin s of His people, Christ's redemption
secured everything necessary for their salvation, including faith which
unites them to Him. The gift of faith is infallibly applied by the Spirit
to all for whom Christ died, therefore guaranteeing their salvation.

4. The Efficacious Call of the
Spirit or Irresistible Grace: In addition to the outward general call to
salvation which is made to everyone who hears the gospel, the Holy Spirit
extends to the elect a special inward call that inevitably bring s them
to salvation. The external call (which is made only to the elect) cannot
be rejected; it always results in conversion. By means of this special
call the Spirit irresistibly draws sinners to Christ. He is not limited
in His work of applying salvation by man's will, nor is He dependent upon
man's cooperation for success. The Spirit graciously causes the elect sinner
to cooperate, to believe, to repent, to come freely and willingly to Christ.
God's grace, therefore, is invincible; it never fails to result in the
salvation of those to whom it is extended.

5. Perseverance of the Saints:
All who are chosen by God, redeemed by Christ, and given faith by the Spirit
are eternally saved. They are kept in faith by the power of Almighty God
and thus persevere to the end. According to Calvinism: Salvation is accomplished
by the almighty power of the Triune God. The Father chose a people, the
Son died for them, the Holy Spirit makes Christ's death effective by bringing
the elect to faith and repentance, thereby causing them to willingly obey
the gospel. The entire process (election, redemption, regeneration) is
the work of God and is by grace alone. Thus God, not man, determines who
will be the recipients of the gift of salvation.

[Dr. Boettner (pronounced Bet-ner)
was born on a farm in northwest Missouri. He is a graduate of Princeton
Theological Seminary (Th.B., 1928; Th.M., 1929), where he studied systematic
theology under C.W. Hodge. In 1933 he received the honorary degree of Doctor
of Divinity.]